Sometimes a proud spirit gets in the way of healthy living. When I think too much of myself I have too much of myself to think of.

Since I was a young person, I always had some pets around. Most of these
have been dogs, hunting dogs in particular. And I loved my pets.
In getting older, I discovered that having a pet dog around is a lot of
work. More work than I care to do in light of my busy schedule. So I
have exchanged these pet dogs for a few pet peeves.
One pet peeve of mine is when a waitress calls me “Sweetie.” I do not
know, it just gets under my skin. Of course, it might be good for
somebody to think of something sweet about me. I prefer, rather, it is
somebody who knows something about me. What bothers me is the people
who know me really do not call me “Sweetie.” There may be something to
that.
Another pet peeve is when somebody is eating broccoli next to me in a
restaurant. Eating broccoli in public is probably not against the law,
but it should be.
And many pet peeves to go along with that.
Recently a situation developed that caused me quite a bit of a quandary.
The gist of that quandary had to do with money, which is another pet
peeve of mine.
When I was in high school, I had smashed my right big toe. At the time,
the doctor had to remove the toenail and it took six months for my
toenail to grow back. Well, it did not quite get back into shape. I
have had trouble with that toe ever since.
Lately that toenail was giving me some difficulty. It was not growing in
the right direction and it looked like it was rotting. I knew if I went
to the doctor, it would cost me an arm and a leg. What good is a toe
when you lost an arm and a leg? When checking it out it would have cost
about $200 to see a doctor about this. Without insurance, all of this
would have come out of my pocket.
I put it off for a year and it seemed just to get worse. It got so bad
that it hurt every time I walked. I did complain to the Gracious
Mistress of the Parsonage, but she only insisted that I go see a
doctor. It is easy for her to say when it is not her $200.
Being a certified Pennsylvania Dutchman, $200 is a lot of money. Trying
to get $200 out of a Pennsylvania Dutchman is about as close to suicide
as anybody wants to get. I tried to think of how I could deal with my
toe without going to that money hungry doctor.
Several weeks ago, I happened to overhear somebody say that they had a
badly infected toenail. It caught my attention because it was the
condition of my toe at the time. Instead of going to the doctor, this
woman went and had a pedicure, which took care of her damaged toe.
I really did not know what a pedicure was; just that it was some kind of
a woman thing. As a man, I had no interest in involving myself in
anything that could be classified as a woman thing. However, my toe
would not quit hurting.
I pondered this subject for a couple of weeks. During that time, my toe
got worse and it was more painful to walk. Of course, my wife kept
asking how my toe was and I deferred telling her the truth. There was
no way I was going to go to a doctor and hand over to him $200 of my
hard-earned money.
I thought to myself, “Self, maybe you should try the pedicure.”
Myself thought it was a good idea and so I drove over to where they did
pedicures. I sat in my truck for a few minutes looking at the Nail
Salon where they did pedicures. While I was watching, my toe kept
hurting.
Finally, I decided to leave my manhood in the truck, hobble in and see
if they could do a pedicure for someone like me. I was sure they had
never dealt with anybody quite my size before. I was not even sure that
they would take a man as a client.
When I walked in, I discovered that they did not speak English. At least
most of them did not. I inquired and was warmly received, then ushered
to a chair where they could work on my toes. Within 20 minutes, I
received a pedicure to beat all pedicures. The young woman who did my
toes did a marvelous job. I was afraid that she would try to paint my
toenails and I was prepared for a vigorous No. But she did not and was
very gracious in taking care of my wounded toe.
When I went to pay for the pedicure, I was surprised it was only $20.
I walked painlessly to my truck and sitting in my truck was my manhood
with $180. That is what I call a good day.
I could not help think of a verse in Proverbs, “Better it is to be of an
humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud”
(Proverbs 16:19).
Sometimes a proud spirit gets in the way of healthy living. When I think
too much of myself I have too much of myself to think of.
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